2015 Team Appreciation Day

Hi, Eat’n Park fans! My name is Amy, and I'm one of the newest team members at Eat'n Park Hospitality Group’s Corporate Support Center (CSC). Eat’n Park is truly a company like no other because every year for the past 25 years, May has been designated as Team Member Appreciation Month. During this time, all CSC personnel take a day to work alongside the team members at one of our many locations, where we help out wherever needed, be it seating guests or even making Strawberry Pies. It’s a way to thank and recognize our hardworking Eat’n Park team members in the field for their years of dedicated service. After all, they are the face of our brand!

I celebrated my first Team Appreciation Day with the wonderful people at our Squirrel Hill Eat’n Park. I have never worked in a restaurant before, so everything was entirely new to me.  The team is extremely hard-working, but still managed to have a great deal of fun – in my eyes, the perfect combination! Our team members aren’t just co-workers, they’re family!

During my day, I spent time with Michelle, the General Manager, who taught me a lot about the restaurant. A unique thing about Squirrel Hill is that they do a lot of their business at night, so they operate a little differently than other restaurants. For example, the greeter at night is in charge of both seating guests and preparing any take-out orders. It’s basically like being in two places at once – but they make it seem easy! Another thing I learned is that many of the team members are so good at what they do that they are sent to help train new hires at other Eat’n Park restaurants. I was really working with an all-star team!

I also helped with tasks around the restaurant including chopping lettuce and wrapping silverware. These may seem like minor chores but in a busy restaurant, every little bit helps and being the new kid in the kitchen, it took some time before I got the hang of things.

Before I left, I helped to set up for their Service Awards, a ceremony where we recognize those that are celebrating milestone anniversaries with the company.  As with any good celebration, there were plenty of tasty treats - like this delicious cake made especially for the occasion by Michelle.

We had 5 awardees that had a combined total of 50 years of service! Michelle spoke about each awardee, and presented them with their anniversary gift.  It was really great to learn about their amazing contributions and dedication to Eat’n Park. 

There are many committed and enthusiastic people working our front lines. Next time you see one of our team members doing a spectacular job, don’t forget to thank them for their great work! 

2015 Awardees (from left to right): Jessica, Matt, Deanna, and Sulai. 

Thanks to Eat’n Park Squirrel Hill for letting me join their team – or should I say, family – for a day!

Amy